IZUMI SUZUKI (1949 -1986) was a countercultural icon and a pioneer of Japanese science fiction. She worked as a keypunch operator before finding fame as a model and actress, but it was her writing that secured her reputation. She took her own life at the age of thirty-six.
With this impressive collection, translators Bett, David Boyd, Helen O'Horan, and Daniel Joseph bring 11 strange, transfixing, and compassionate short stories from Suzuki to English-speaking audiences. SFF fans are sure to be pleased with these slangy, accessible new translations of a master. * Publishers Weekly * Not only still relevant but remarkably fresh ... All these stories are brilliant * Guardian * The work and messages of Ursula K. Le Guin, the author's longer-lived contemporary, come to mind. Both Suzuki and Le Guin knew that gender roles are a matter of costume or control, affect or affliction. The terms we use to define humanity are often inhuman -- Catherine Lacey * New York Times * Her punky irreverence remains radiant' * Frieze * Brilliant and often bleak . all shot through with a camp ethos, dark humour and kitchen-sink realism . in their brio and jagged urgency, these stories have, if anything, only gained in their alarming immediacy. * Times Literary Supplement * These strangely prescient stories are perfect for fans of Haruki Murakami, George Saunders, and Philip K. Dick * Publishers Weekly * Extraordinary. To use one of her own coolly illuminating formulations, Suzuki is steward of a new anxiety -- China Mieville [A] riveting book of short stories by cult favorite Japanese sci-fi author Izumi Suzuki. -- Sophia June * Nylon, Most Anticipated Books of 2023 * A little speculative, a little punk, a little chaotic-all singular in their voice and vision. In this new collection, there will be cheating husbands, score settling, alternate timelines, bored teens, and space pirates...What a thrill it is to see that more of her stories are coming down the pipes. * Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023 * Even decades after her death, Suzuki's sci-fi fantasy worlds feel fresh. The 11 stories in this deeply unsettling and imaginative collection are sure to enthrall, disturb and entertain...A brilliant follow up. * Tokyo Weekender, <b>15 Upcoming Releases We Can't Wait to Read in 2023</b> * Sure to be wonderfully off-kilter and imaginative. -- Iain Maloney * Japan Times * This volume is at the top of my TBR list. -- Karla J. Strand * Ms. Magazine * This collection reaches out from the past not as a warning so much as the musings of a writer grasping for hope in a dark world. Music is woven through the book, as if Suzuki had created an accompanying playlist and is urging readers to listen along...These 11 stories surprise with wry humor and stun with the loneliness of living. * Kirkus Reviews * [Suzuki] has produced stories that delight in weaving the uncanny into everyday experiences. The stories are edgy and comic, taking a sharp, sardonic scalpel to male privilege in Japanese society ... a singular voice in Japanese literature -- Michael Cronin * Irish Times *